Page 26 of The Legend
“No, Ryderwouldn’t have been scared. He knew the dangers very well. In fact, much likeyou and him, his mentor, Ron Walker was killed racing too.”
Castenseemed to think about that for a moment and then looked down at his phone thatbeeped.
Nothingwould take the place of Ryder being gone no more than it would having guys likeAndy and Colin gone or a more dedicated crew member than Gentry. I missed Cal’scooking and Wes, I missed his crazy war stories. My point was, any time youlose someone, it hurts and nothing takes that pain away.
Castenyawned with a chuckle adjusting his sweatshirt against the window. “I miss thatcrazy asshole Ryder.”
“We all dobuddy.”
5.In/Out Box - Jameson
In/Out Box– This box contains the direct drive slider gears on a sprint car. Since sprintcars do not have a clutch, the car has to be put into gear before racing. Theslider gear has to be engaged before the car is off and then the engine willstart by compression. It’s similar to a running start in a street car.
PaulLeighty, one of my current teammates driving the No. 19 car for Riley Racing,was the type of racer that would talk himself up so high he’d need a spaceshuttle to return to earth.
It’d beenmy experience that people who made themselves out to be some sort of god on thetrack really had no clue how to handle the goddamn car if it became illhandling.
My theorywas right after Bristol.
The moretime I spent around Paul, the more he annoyed me. We’d had our run-in’s in thepast but this year we had more and it seemed to be coming to a head.
Unfortunately,for me, he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d just signed a five-year contract withus.
And as itturns out, there was someone out there even more mentally unstable than me.
Who wouldhave ever imagined that?
Throughoutthe Cup season that year, Paul and I had been getting into it on the track. Atthe shop, it was worse and in team meetings, we actually got into a shovingmatch.
It seemedPaul had a problem showing that “respect”. The thing I talked about so often.He somehow felt it was okay to cut down on me with only inches or to bump draftin the corners at Daytona.
Being myteammate now, I sat him down and told him this would stop happening. Did Imention I was part owner of Riley-Simplex Racing now? So yeah, this would stophappening if Paul wanted to keep his spot on the team. Screw his five-yearcontract. I would find a way out of it.
“You knowthat I own part of this team, right?” I said to him after a team meeting at theshop in Mooresville when he told me I had an attitude.
He smiledreaching for the door but kept his eyes on me.
“I don’tsay that to be cocky, but, well, if you want to continue with this team shitneeds to change.”
Again, hesmiled. Here’s something most fans don’t know. When another racer spouts offafter a race that he will be getting another driver back for his on trackaggression, this is usually false representation. If he says nothing, expectthe payback when you least expect it.
Paul beingas hungry as the next driver, and on a 56-race losing streak, didn’t feel toothreatened by my response and tried his “cutting down” trick again in Bristol.
One thingI had learned about Bristol over the years that most hadn’t figured out was thetrack. It was as if Bristol was my own personal playground so to speak. I knewevery corner and every crack on that surface. I could set the fastest lapwithout trying and could win on any given night with a fifth place car ifneeded. So, when Paul came down on me entering turn two at the night racethere, he had a rude awakening.
I checkedup, let him come down and then passed him on the high side,roostingthe marbles as I drifted into turn three to take the win.
He smashedso hard into the inside concrete wall he had to be taken to a nearby hospitalbecause they thought he did some damage to his head.
Did heever pull that move on me again? No.
Would hebe searching for another job next season?
Without a doubt.
In mymind, if you couldn’t respect your own teammates, you had no reason to be outthere. Even back in my rookie season, I also respected, and still do, myteammates. Hell, I respected every driver out there until they gave me a reasonnot to. Paul gave me a reason. I like to think that most understood where I wascoming from with Paul but most didn’t. My dad did, for the most part. It was aconstant question debated with the media and one interview with my dad had alot of impact on the situation.
“That’sJameson,” he told the media after Bristol. He spoke slowly and with a passionwe understood. “No one can take this from him and not expect a fight. Like itor not, he’s ruled by his heart whether you guys wanna believe that or not.While my son is practical to a point, he’s impulsive but that’s Jameson. Dealwith or don’t. I don’t really care.”
